Mattingly will return at the break

Obviously a little late in the news here, but in case you hadn’t heard, Don Mattingly will be rejoining the club as the hitting coach after the All-Star Break, which is obviously great news. As most of you know, he was hired as the hitting coach but had to return home to Indiana for personal issues and Mike Easler did the organization a great service by stepping in during Don’s absence. He’ll now return to the minors as an organizational hitting instructor at the end of this homestand.

Earlier today, I had the great fortune of going to a dedication ceremony at the Sports Arena for the unveiling of a plaque in the name of Walter O’Malley. There were tons of former Dodger players, coaches, employees and it was a very classy event. Among the Dodger people that were there and/or spoke were Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Tommy Lasorda, Ron Fairly, Frank and Jamie McCourt, and many others. With Walter getting his long overdue induction into the Hall of Fame later this month, this was like a prequel to Cooperstown and it was really something special, since I won’t be able to make it to the induction ceremony.

leekfink, I noticed last night at the game that Pee Wee pinch hit for Kent in the 9th. I was a bit confused then–and now that he’s out of the line-up tonight, I wonder what’s REALLY going on??!?!?!?!?!? Not that the Dodgers PR staff hasn’t been totally forthcoming on all injuries up to this point….

Reposted from the end of the last thread:
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I wrote here yesterday that tonight would be a big test–first of Torre to see if he could put his faith in his players, and then of his players to come through.
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Then Torre made the one move that I had not really contemplated, which is resting Kent. I don’t think it has anything to do with anything other than he had planned to give Kent a day off (and with sinkerballer Lowe on the mound and Nomar still getting his legs back at shortstop, giving Kent this night off and starting Maza–even over LaRoche–makes sense). I would rather have Kent in there, beause I think his bat can help, and he can bounce back, but the old guy needs some days off. So OK.
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The other move is Nomar hitting third. It’s odd that Russ gets bumped down to fifth, but he is still going with Kemp to lead off, hitting Loney clean-up with Kent out, and putting Jones down in the order (DeWitt could maybe hit ahead of him, but that’s at least a fair question, and Maza of course hits 8th when he plays). And Nomar has, so far, been doing pretty well since coming off the DL. So while Torre threw me for a little loop there with a regular day off for Kent, I think that he basically is going with the same philosophy and players, and so I think he passes his test.
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So, now the players have thiers.
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Big game. Let’s win.

It’s about time the thread changed! I have been trying to post all day and I kept getting cut off. My phone was on overload. Anyhow, It’s been great here at DS. I am sitting right behind home plate, and I have gotten some incredible pictures of all the boys. Great posts by everybody the last couple of days. All three games we have sat by four scouts- giants, astros, marlins, and braves. The giants scout has a Yankee WS ring from 1999 – we got to where it – so cool! We brought him and the other scouts cookies today” They were impressed with our knowledge of the game and our respective teams. Well James is up to bat, and I need to go back to the game. I will check in after the game – bye for now 🙂 Welcome to all the new people on the board – glad your are here, and girls; we have A very good looking team (Hot!) LOL!!!

D Lowe is cranking out the ground balls. Now we just have to score some runs. It seems like we play better on the road lately than at home. The offense was starting to crank on the road trip and now they have really slowed down since they came home. So much for home cooking.

An outing like this might help Lowe’s value for a trade before the deadline. Since he’ll be a free agent anyway maybe we can get something for him before we lose him and not get rid of any of the kids.

I’m heading to Jacksonville tomorrow to see James MacDonald pitch against Mike Hampton. Hopefully I’ll catch Kershaw over the weekend. Nice chance to see some of the younger kids that may help us soon.

OMG- i must me watching a t.v program from a different universe..Druw is actually saying nice things about the fans?!?! what’s this?? I thought that he “didn’t care”
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scurtis- Matt Kemp- 2 for 4. beautiful situation 🙂

A great game. Fantastic outing by Derek Lowe–just incredible (and shorter than Monday’s game). And some timely hitting by Matt Kemp and Nomar, and some overall good play against a tough pitcher.
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They answered the call–Torre putting hi faith in his players, and his players in proving that faith was earned.
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And now Josh gets some ice cream.

Tonight was great example of why you don’t trade Lowe. Playoffs are about experienced pitchers. I’m all for the youth movement…but pitchers are another species altogether. And for all the Penny haters, if he gets healthy, he, too, has a World Series ring.

dnelly, I’m glad you’re having a great time. You sure did see some great pitching performances!
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But how could you put on ANYTHING associated with the Yankees?! I don’t care if it’s a World Series ring or not. Growing up in the ’70s when the Giants were a consistent non-contender and we faced the Yankess and that hip-throwing S.O.B Reggie Jackson three times in the W. I hate the Yankees even more than I hate the Gnats. Please don’t ever let me hear about such blasphemies again.
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Dodgers are averaging 4.5 runs/game since Kemp became leadoff. 4.2 runs/game since Pierre went down (that counts the one-run game in which Repko led off).
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GO BLUE!!

So glad we didn’t trade Matt Kemp for CC Sabathia. Supposedly Sabathia would lead us to the promised land this year. First of all, there’s a reasonable possibility that The Bison will be more valuable than CC over the next 2 1/2 months.
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More importantly, THIS fan is not looking for one World Series Championship, but a DYNASTY in which the Dodgers go to the World Series maybe five times over the next decade. I don’t want to throw that away for a one-time shot.
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As has been pointed out CC and Ben Sheets will be free agents after this year, and we should be players when that time comes.
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Meanwhile our pitching is still among the best in baseball. And that’s with Fat Penny and Schmidt rehabing and Kershaw lurking in the minors. We have enough pitching to take us all the way THIS YEAR.
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And if JoJo lets the best players play, we have enough hitting too.
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I remain concerned about shortstop because it’s a virtual sure thing that Nomar will break down and Berraza in the 8-hole is a pure waste. I would still love to acquire Jack Wilson — obviously not for Kemp (such a silly rumor) but maybe for somebody like Lucas May. That would give us major league insurance for Nomar and in the meantime we can dump both halves of Berraza.

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